The crow and the beast - Kaz brekker

Chapter 16 - a day off

All she could feel was pain. Both mentally and physically. She tried to open her eyes but couldn't. she was so tired. The world was shaking all around her. She heard people talking in the distance but couldn't hear what they were saying.

after what felt like forever she tried once more to open her eyes, it took all the effort in the world but she finally managed to slowly open her eyes. The light was blinding and the world was still shaking.

she wasn't laying very comfortable for at least her head was elevated a little to prevent to much blood rushing to her head. After a few seconds her vision cleared up a bit she must have stirred a bit because suddenly she saw nina's face above hers.

"kaz she is waking up." kaz? she slowly remembered what had happened, the bloody hat, the whips, more blood, explosions ... and then nothing, she couldn't remember anything else. She tried to speak but was immediately shushed by nina.

"don't try to talk, your body is healing." She closed her eyes for what felt like only a second but when she opened her eyes again it was not nina she saw above her but kaz. the world was still shaking around her which did not help with the pain she felt all over her body.

she couldn't believe it was him, he was dead this must be a trick. She slowly lifted her hand as if to touch him to see if he was real but he took her hand in his gloved one instead. He saw the confusion in her eyes.

"we are currently in a carriage on our way to another town. You have spend all your energy and you still have a lot of wounds and bruises. You are safe her with me now, and with the crows." He slowly put her hand back down but kept a hold of it.

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the next time she opened her eyes she was laying in a comfortable bed and it was dark outside. She looked around and saw kaz sitting in a nearby armchair fast asleep. She felt a lot better already and slowly got out of bed making sure to not wake up kaz.

She silently walked over to the bathroom to get a glass of water. She quickly filled a glass and as she turned to go back to the bedroom she heard a stumble from inside. She quickly walked over and saw a very distressed kaz standing in the middle of the room.

his eyes landed on her and she could visibly see him relax. He must have been really worried about her while she was at the fortress. He stumbled over to her without saying a word. he took the glass out of her hand and placed it on a dresser nearby.

Cara noticed he wasn't wearing his gloves but he did not seem to care right now. Without another word he engulfed her in a tight hug. He buried his head in the crook of her neck. "I thought I had lost you" it was almost a whisper.

Cara would have never thought to see kaz so ... vulnerable. She quickly hugged him back taking in his scent, she did not notice the tears flowing down her cheeks until she let out a nob. Kaz immedaitly pulled back out of the hug and looked her in the eyes.

"are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Cara shook her head. With a slight tremble in his hands he wiped away the tears on her face. "they told me you were dead, gave me your hat all bloody" kaz now understood why almost all the guards I the fortress were dead when they arrived. Her emotions had taken over and this was the reason why.

"I would murder them if you had not already done so, I will always be here for you." He said before hugging her again. When he pulled back he took her hand in his, she was warm and alive. He has been worried sick while she wasn't here and actually missed her touch. He promised himself he would not let one moment go by where he held himself back from touching her ever again.

"you should go back to bed, it's a few hours after midnight" kaz said. He took the glass of water and gave it back to her. They walked to the bed together as Cara took a sip of water. Cara slowly got under the covers again.

kaz stood next to the bed debating what he should do, Cara noticed this. She lifted the covers. "come on then, I promise you I won't bite." Kaz got under the covers with her. thankful for the fact Cara always seemed to know what was going on in his head so he did not need to awkwardly ask if something was okay.

she shifted over in the bed leaving a wide gap between the 2 of them but he was having none of that. He positioned himself on his back like he had slept before on the boat and when Cara saw he opened his arms for her she quickly positioned herself with her head on his chest but keeping their bodies a bit apart.

again kaz was having none of that now and he shifted himself to he was laying right next to her. her warmth comforting him. he had never been this comfortable in his life before. "sleep well kaz" he grinned and placed a light kiss to the top of Caras head. "sleep well Cara"

Cara was the first one of the two to wake up. she knew this before she could hear kaz snore away. They were still positioned the same way as they fell asleep but their legs were now strangled together.

she never thought she and kaz would end up like this. Especially not with his trauma but he has gone above and beyond for her. she was so immensely proud of him for that. She certainly felt that something had changed since the fortress, something has clicked in his mind. He barely even trembled when he wiped away her tears tonight.

she was so deep in thought that she did not noticed kaz had stopped snoring but instead had started drawing small circles on her back. "what are you thinking about?" his voice was deeper than normal. She thought it was incredibly handsome.

"you" she simply answered. She could almost feel him cock an eyebrow at her answer. "good or bad?" she was sure she could feel him smirk now. "good" she replied. A few more minutes passed as both people enjoyed each other's company.

"we should probably get up" Cara said. Kaz grumbled in response not agreeing with the statement but slowly making his way out of bed anyway.

Cara decided to take a shower and when she came into the room again kaz had gotten them both breakfast and coffee. "how are your wounds?" he asked.

"they are alright, most wounds have closed and the bruises are already changing color. They still ache but nothing I cannot handle." Kaz nodded, not completely happy because she was still hurt but happy enough for now knowing that she wasn't in any major pain anymore.

"what about hannah?" Cara asked kaz. "inej and jesper went after her, they should bring her back today" Cara nodded and smiled. "so we have a day off today."

"I never have a day off" kaz responded. He walked over to his bag and pulled out a bundle of papers. "what are you doing with those papers anyway?" Cara asked trying to look on the papers.

"these are the papers of the crow club and the slat, I run a business and a gang you know. I somehow have to make sure we earn money" Cara smiled. "can you teach me?"

kaz looked up and cocked an eyebrow at her then went back to his papers. "I am serious kaz, I want to help you. So teach me what needs to be done, what needs to be remembered."

kaz looked up, he seemed to think for a few seconds and then motioned her to sit next to him. he began pointing at number on the papers and telling her where they came from. The amount it cost to be run and the amount they made.

they went on like this for hours and by the time it was afternoon Cara was able to give kaz a few suggestions. "so this type of rum is the most consumed drink for the last 6 months right? Most likely this won't change in the future so why don't you buy it more in bulk so get the overall price reduced so you can make more profit out of it in the long run?"

Kaz nodded and after looking at the number again he smiled. A genuine smile. "you are the perfect partner ... and girlfriend." He sat back and Cara turned to him.

"kaz, I have to tell you something." He looked at her and his eyes showed interest, he was fully focused on listening to what she has to say and suddenly she felt like this might not be the right time. But damn if something were to happen to this man Cara would never forgive herself for not saying it.

"kaz, when I thought u were dead ... I realized something." She stopped for a second, second guessing herself. Almost afraid he might react badly. "what is it? You can tell me anything."

he took her hand in his gloved one reassuring her. "kaz ... I love you." She made eye contact with him but couldn't see in them what he was thinking. He was silent for almost a minute before she spoke again. "at least say something." That seemed to break him out of his daze.

suddenly his eyes filled with adoration and without another second thinking about it he grabbed her face with both his hands and kissed her. it wasn't a deep kiss and only lasted a few seconds but for Cara it was the easily the best few seconds of her entire life.

when they pulled back both of them had a big smile on their face. "if I had known you would kiss me when I said that I would have said it sooner." She said playfully. He took her face again and pressed another light kiss on her lips. "I love you to my little wolf"

a sudden knock on the door broke the moment and kaz immediately went back to him business face. "come in" he called out. In stepped inej. "we have found and captured hannah"

kaz nodded. "we leave for ketterdam tomorrow." Inej nodded. Cara stood up and walked over to inej. They both hugged each other. "you are definitely the more sneaky person out of us 2" Cara said with a smile.

"well you didn't really seemed to need us to break out of a heavily guarded fortress, just wanted to show did you?" the girls smiled at each other. "did Hannah put up a fight?"

"not really, she tried to ride off on a horse but her horse riding skills are lacking so she fell off rather quickly. She is unharmed and we are holding her at the campsite by the carriage." Cara nodded.

they said their goodbyes as inej left the room again. "kaz we should go to the campsite, as much as I like being here alone with you I would like us all to be together." Kaz nodded and understood.

They packed their things, kaz paid the inn keeper and they bought some food to take back with them to the campsite.

when they arrived jesper was the first one to lift Cara off the ground with a hug. Soon after that came Matthias, nina and wylan. Inej smiled at her.

Cara prepared the food they had bought back at the town for the crows and Hannah. They locked her up in the carriage for now.

"thank you all for coming back for me" jesper was the first one to speak up. "we never leave a crow behind." The others spoke their agreement before jesper spoke again. "also kaz would have killed us all if we would have left you and went back to ketterdam."


"you are not wrong there" kaz responded as he trew an arm around Cara who was sitting next to him by the fire.

"tomorrow we leave at first light for the docks" suddenly realization hit Cara.

"oh no, I hate boats." Kaz grinned. "they are not that bad." Cara shot kaz a glare while the other crows all laughed.

AN: i am feeling that writers block is creeping up on me. i still have a basic idea of where i want to go next witht his story but just writing the words down gets harder by the day. i will however try to keep this story updated every day.

if any of you have any suggestions for this story they are all still very welcome! thank you all for reading my story!